Monsters of Television

“Anybody else want to scrap with the champs?”

Good grief, show. I mean, I was already liking you. But now I kind of love you. Like, I’m going to buy you something nice. What would you like? Tickets to Ember Island? No, no, you seem more adventurous, so perhaps a guided tour of Serpent’s Pass? (Don’t worry, we’re not going to the Great Divide (why would ANYONE want to go there?!).)

Gushy-gush aside, “And the Winner Is…” should be the episode that convinces any stragglers of the show’s quality to be quiet (provided there were any). It’s a well-executed episode that blends the previous series’s mix of humor, romance, and action to then add in the dashes of the political intrigue that Korra is excelling in thus far. It is, in short, perhaps the epitome of what this series is thus far.

So let’s talk about Amon a bit. He’s clearly very chatty (how long was his speech at the pro-bending stadium? I think his next speech may just run the length of an episode, like he’s some sort of fantasy John Galt), but when we consider his words, he appears to have shifted from political extremism to a more (blatant) cult-like approach, that includes positioning the benders and their abilities as “impurities” to be eradicated from the world.

All of this seems well-orchestrated to appeal to the basest instinct in those concerned about the notion of bender oppression, which, again, we haven’t seen any instances of at play in the show, apart from the all-bender governing council, but they don’t even seem particularly partisan (Tarrlok and Tenzin appear to be the only personalities on the council). Which has me thinking that Amon has a second, more important agenda that the Equalist movement is only attempting to lay the groundwork for.

And the introduction of the easily controlled and stored shock gloves (How did they get into the popcorn bags? Why not keep it in your pocket or sack?) is probably the biggest “equalizer” bit of technology so far. You don’t have to be a trained chi-blocker to use it. Just power it up, and reach out and shock someone you think is oppressing you. And that’s a kind of a game changer since ordinary citizens are now able to easily protect themselves from threats, benders or otherwise.

The other elements of the episode are just as engaging. I enjoyed the great reveal of Pema stealing away Tenzin from Lin Beifong (Korra’s face mirrored my own as I pieced it together moments before the show revealed it), and the light touch of Mako and Asami blowing each other kisses along with Korra’s reaction was just enough of the romance element. (Not to mention the great animation and voicework that’s being done with Tenzin. I can’t get over J.K. Simmons here.)

But then there’s the entire third act of just excellent action animation. The act was clearly storyboarded within an inch of its life, with lots of great, inventive things going on, including the wuxia-inspired moves of Lin (I liked how, in this case, we actually need to see the wires, too) and how much of a benefit being able to fly really was for Aang. Fights on the glass roof of the pro-bending stadium, cutting back and forth between the court and under it, it’s all just really well done.

And I think a good bit of this has to do with Joaquim Dos Santos & Ki Hyun Ryu having directed every episode of the show thus far. There’s been a consistent visual style here, and having the same two guys be on board for all the episodes really helps make the show feel and look really seamless from a visual perspective (I know that, based on commentary tracks for A:TLA, that DiMartino and Konietzko are, of course, probably heavily involved in this process as well).

With the pro-bending stadium wrecked and ruined, I’ll be eager to see how we keep Bolin and Mako involved in the main plot now. The episode marks the halfway point for the first season, so I suspect we’ll be running through the next six really quickly.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• “Cabbage Corp, the most trusted name in technology for 50 years!” MY CABBAGES!!!
• Lin actually uttered the phrase “hit and run tactics.” Between this and the conversations I’ve been having about Green Lantern: TAS in comments on the site, what do we think about “kids'” shows addressing issues of terrorism?
• “I’ll try and be less abrasive than usual.”
• Smackdown soup, another important sponsor of pro-bending
• Aw. Poor Pabu. No one was impressed by his acrobatics.
• “I’m going to knock Tahno’s stupid hair off his stupid head.” (He looked really friggin’ petrified when Amon took away his bending.)
• “These Ferrets aren’t just bending the elements, they’re bending my mind!” I felt really bad when the announcer was electrocuted. It was a funny moment, but why did they need to shock him, I wonder?
• I enjoyed the slo-mo replays of Korra’s takedown of Tahno. It was probably my favorite pro-bending moment of the series.